International Center for Law and Religion Studies

"There will be no peace in our world without an understanding of the place of religion within it." — Tony Blair

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies was formally established on the 1st of January 2000, with the mission to help secure the blessings of freedom of religion, conscience, or belief for all people. To this end Center Personnel consult and publish widely on religious freedom issues, and the Center sponsors and participates in numerous Conferences worldwide, culminating in an Annual International Law and Religion Symposium at Brigham Young University each October.

As a public service, the Center maintains this website to share news of its activites as well as U.S. religious freedom news of general interest, with particular focus on relevant U.S. Court Cases... more

Advance online access to the first issue of The Oxford Journal of Law and Religion is now available here. The print volume will be available in late January.

Three members of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies participate in the production of the Journal. Center Director W. Cole Durham, Jr. is among five international scholars who serve as Editors-in-Chief; others are Malcolm Evans, University of Bristol (UK); Silvio Ferrari, Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy); Julian Rivers, University of Bristol (UK); and Gerhard Robbers, Universität... more

10 December 2011 - Washington, DC

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has published recommendations for international standards for religious freedom protections. The recommendations are available online in the 10 December 2011 issue of the Yale Journal of International Affairs and also at the USCIRF website. 

From the introduction to the recommendations:

Several countries in the world are or soon will be drafting new constitutions. It is vital that these constitutions protect universal human rights, including the... more

Islam, Europe and Emerging Legal Issues
Edited by W. Cole Durham Jr., Rik Torfs, 
David M. Kirkham, and Christine Scott
Ashgate Publishers 2012

Islam, Europe and Emerging Legal Issues brings together vital analysis of the challenges that Europe poses for an expanding Islam and that Islam poses for Europe, within their ever-evolving religious, legal, and social environments. This book gathers some of the best thinking on Islam and the law affecting current and contested issues that can no longer be ignored, particularly as they have found their way before the European Court of Human Rights. Contributors include leading authorities who are working at the heart of this generation's law and religion questions in Europe and across the world. This book outlines implications for all those who look to Europe-from both within and without-for models of human rights implementation and multi-cultural accommodation.

For Immediate Release 11 January 2012
The International Center for Law and Religion Studies

The United States Supreme Court has delivered its decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the most significant U.S. religious freedom case in twenty years. In a unanimous opinion, the Court held that employment discrimination suits against leaders and teachers of religious organizations impermissibly interfere with the internal governance of religious organizations and thus violate the U.S. Constitution's Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses. "The interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important. But so too is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith, and carry out their mission. When a minister who has been fired sues her church alleging that her termination was discriminatory, the First Amendment has struck the balance for us. The church must be free to choose those who will guide it on its way." The International Center for Law and Religion Studies filed an amicus brief supporting the approach adopted by the Supreme Court.

In Hosanna-Tabor, the Supreme Court... more

[The] unanimous Supreme Court decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, upholding a small Lutheran school’s right to control its employment of "commissioned ministers" on its teaching staff, is very good news indeed for religious freedom. Congratulations are due to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, to Professor Douglas Laycock of the University of Virginia (who teamed up with Becket in representing the school), and to writers of supportive amicus briefs.*    —Matthew J. Franck, ... more

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University wishes to acknowledge the following international experts on the topic of freedom of religion or belief whose work we consulted in preparing our amicus brief in the case Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Church and School v. EEOC... more

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University prepared an amicus brief in support of the Petitioner in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, heard during the fall term of the Supreme Court of the United States. The case is seen by many as the most important religious freedom case to come before the court in decades.

The Center was invited to provide a comparative perspective in the case, drawing upon pertinent widespread global principles of religious autonomy to "underscore the distinctive strengths... more

16-18 February 2012. Annual Conference of the J. Reuben Clark Society, Stanford University, Cole Durham participating.

1 March 2012.  Second Religious Freedom Discussion Series, Lecture #1, W. Cole Durham, Jr., 12:00 noon MST, webinar from Room 472 JRCB, Brigham Young University.

1 March 2012. "Religious Freedom: Why Now? Defending an Embattled Human Right," featuring Robert George, Timothy Shah, and Hamza Yusuf, co-sponsored by the Religious Freedom Project and the Witherspoon Institute,... more

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has published the findings of a comprehensive survey of more than 1,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in the United States. The study is "the first of its kind ever published by a non-LDS research organization." The findings were made available on the Pew Forum website on 12 January 2012, and three articles summarizing the findings were prepared by Joseph Walker of the LDS-owned Deseret News... more

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) at Brigham Young University and the Community Service Outreach Committee of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (JRCLS) have presented the first Religious Freedom Discussion Series—a bi-monthly forum led by the globally recognized religious freedom experts who serve as the ICLRS leadership. The discussions will continue in 2012 with a Second Series, beginning on 1 March with a lecture by ICLRS Director W. Cole Durham,... more

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has announced results of a demographic study of more than 200 countries, tracking the size and distiribution of the world's Christian population. According to the study, released on 21 December 2011, "there are 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world, representing nearly a third of the estimated 2010 global population of 6.9 billion. Christians are also geographically... more

An interdisciplinary conference "Sharing Sacred Space: Legal, Theological, and Sociological Perspectives," was held 14-15 December 2011 at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.

The conference was co-organized by the Interdisciplinary Program in Law and Religion, Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School, United States, in addition to the Angelicum's The John Paul II Center. Additional sponsors were the International Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Education (IFIIE), Italy, and the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding, Brigham Young University.* 

The program featured experts in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish traditions, scholars in law, philosophy, history, and... more

Professor Elizabeth A. Clark, Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies and the Center's regional advisor for Central and Eastern Europe, presented the final lecture in the first International Religious Freedom Discussion Series on Thursday, 1 December 2011 in Room 472 of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. 

Professor Clark's lecture, "Recent Legislative Trends Affecting Religious Freedom in Eastern Europe and Central Asia," addressed continuing and even increasing restrictions on religious freedom, including increased registration requirements, requirement of "religious expertise" by state bodies, and limitations on proselytizing... more

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies of the J. Reuben Clark Law School is pleased to announce the selection of the Student Research Fellows for 2012. These fifteen outstanding law students will participate in the ICLRS Student Research Fellows Program, involving a five-week international externship followed by a guided individual research project at the Law School.... more

Professor Brett G. Scharffs presented the Fifth Lecture in the Religious Freedom Discussion Series, sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) at Brigham Young University and the Community Service Outreach Committee of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (JRCLS). The topic of the 27 October 2011 lecture was "The Role of Judges in Determining the Meaning of Religious Symbols."

The PowerPoint presentation accompanying the lecture is available here in three parts:   Part 1    Part 2    Part 3. Technical difficulties prevented our making a good recording of the lecture. We hope to be able to post a replacement soon.... more

Senator Joseph Lieberman addressed the topic "Faith and the Public Square," related to his recently published book, The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath, at Brigham Young University's Marriott Center on Tuesday, 25 October 2011. The lecture will be rebroadcast on KBYU-TV at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on November 20. Click here to read the BYU News Report of the event.

From a Washington Times review of the book by Michael Medved: "The purpose of 'the gift of rest'... more

"Religion," an international symposium held 25-25 October 2011 at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Olso, focused on discussion of religion as actually conceived of in contemporary societies. What distinguishes religion from non-religion? According to Professor Jan Terje Faarlund, chair of the organizing committee, participants were to focus on discussion of "cognitive and neurological processes that contribute to create religion as a human phenomenon," looking nto the relationship between "religion" and national identity, taking into account that one... more

Dr. Rachael Kohn, host of the Australia ABC radio program The Spirit of Things, was a delegate to the Eighteenth Annual International Law and Religion Symposium. For her program of 23 October, Dr. Kohn broadcast an interview with fellow Symposium participants from Malaysia, conducted during her stay in Provo.

Religious pluralism marks the history of Malaysia, notes Dr. Kohn, but riots in 1969 fostered tensions between religious groups that have had lasting effects. Recently-retired Chief Justice of Malaysia, Zaki bin Tun Azmi, says religious pluralism is very well managed in his country, which is officially Muslim. But 40% of the country is not Muslim, and the Rev'd Thomas Philips... more

Professor Robert T. Smith, Managing Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, spoke at the conference "Filling the Void: Meeting the Ethical Needs of Students." The conference was sponsored by the Penn State Center for Ethics & Religious Affairs and was held on 20 October 2011 at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center - Eisenhower Chapel, at Pennsylvania State University. The conference focused on the topics: Can we have religious/spiritual organizations on campus? Do we need a multi-faith center to accommodate religion and spirituality? and What are other campuses... more

Scholars from China and the United States met at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C., for a two-day conference, 13 & 14 October 2011, on the topic Religion in the Social Transition of Contemporary China. The event, a collaboration of the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States and the Asia Research Center Foundation, examined "this critical and timely topic" through the varying perspectives of the distinguished participants.

"The rapid growth of religious activity in China, especially among Christians but including other religions as well, raises profound questions about the relationship of religion to government, its impact on society, and its potential effects on the emerging social challenges facing China. What are the factors shaping the Chinese approach to this critical issue? What challenges does this approach... more

BYU Law School Professor and Center Associate Director Brett G. Scharffs presented papers comparing French and U.S. approaches to separation of religion and the state at two international conferences in Turkey in October 2011.

The first conference, held in Istanbul on October 7-8, 2011, an International Congress on Constitutional Law, "Deliberative / Pluralistic Constitution," was sponsored by the Boğaziçi Lawyers Association, the bar association of Istanbul. The purpose of the Congress was to create a forum for discussion and debate about the primary issues involved in the proposed new constitution of Turkey. Professor Scharffs presented the same paper at a second conference, Turkey's New Constitution, sponsored by and held at Melikşah University in Kayseri in central Turkey on October 10, 2011.

Professor Scharffs' paper was entitled, "France and the United States: Two Models and Mythologies of Separation of Religion and the State (Neither of Which Involves Separation)." In the... more

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies organized a Religion Policy Colloquium in Washington, D.C. during 6-7 October 2011. Center Director Cole Durham and Managing Director Robert Smith traveled with nine scholars from eight European countries to Washington, where they visited the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and Word Affairs at Georgetown University, the headquarters of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the U.S. State Department Office of International Religious Freedom, and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. While there they participated in a Liberty Awards Dinner... more

Jordan Pendergrass

Kevin J. "Seamus" Hasson, founder of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, has successfully defended religious liberty in the courts of law, the court of public opinion, and the academy. His accomplishments, both in the United States and abroad, have benefitted the religious rights of people from "A to Z," from Anglicans to Zoroastrians. In recognition of his work and great character, Mr. Hasson received the International Religious Liberty Award on 6 October 2011 in Washington, DC. As Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University has observed, "no... more

Winners of the Second Annual Religious Freedom Student Writing Competition were announced at an Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C., on 6 October 2011.

First prize of $1500 was awarded to Kevin L. Brady, University of Chicago Law School, for his paper "Religious Sincerity and Imperfection: Can Lapsing Prisoners Recover Under RFRA and RLUIPA?"

Second prize of $1000 went to R. Walker Humphrey II, Charleston School of Law, for "Dennis the Menace?: An Analysis of Whether the Episcopal Church’s Dennis Canon Entitles the Church to an Exemption from Neutral Trust Law."... more

In an event held on 6 October 2011 in connection with the Washington, DC  Colloqiuim on Religion Policy and the Second International Religious Liberty Award Dinner, Professor Robert T. Smith, Managing Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies addressed members of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Society on the topic "How an Attorney Can Further Religious Freedom," explaining some current and critical threats to religious freedom and outlining how his hearers could help.

"The work of religious freedom requires the efforts of many dedicated men and women who join together in diverse ways," said Professor Smith, who recommend the words of Steve Jobs in a commencement address at Stanford University: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most... more

The Eighteenth Annual International Law and Religion came to a close in a plenary session on Tuesday afternoon, October 4, 2011. Center Director Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr. invited seven Symposium delegates and one audience member to join him in summarizing the event for all assembled in the Law School's Moot Court Room and listening in via live Internet stream. Joining Professor Durham during this hour were

• David Rodearmel – U.S. Foreign Services Officer, currently assigned to Stuttgart, Germany, former Symposium delegate, this year an audience member;
• Mariatu Bangura – Senior Executive, Gender and Children's Affairs

The 18th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of the J. Reuben Clark Law School took place on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, from October 2 through 4, 2011. This year's conference, "Religious Freedom in a Pluralistic Age: Trends, Challenges, and Practices," welcomed more than 75 participants, representing 37 countries.

The Symposium opened in the Law School's Moot Court Room on Sunday evening, October 2, with an address by this year's distinguished keynote speaker, Zakeria Mohammed Yacoob of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Sessions continued through Monday and Tuesday and concluded with remarks by ICLRS Director Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr. and a number of other Symposium delegates. ... more

Heidi Carmack
BYU Law School Reporter

South Africa’s Justice Zakeria Mohammed Yacoob was the keynote speaker in the opening session of the 18th Annual International Center for Law and Religion Studies Symposium, "Religious Freedom in a Pluralistic Age: Trends, Challenges and Practices.' Justice Yacoob called listeners to action, stating that all people have the potential to add value in this critical fight for religious freedom.

"Religion, conscience, thought and belief should, I believe, be regarded as the core of our humanity as a crucial component of our humanness," Justice Yacoob... more

Heidi Carmack

Professor Gary B. Doxey addressed the J. Reuben Clark Law Society as the keynote speaker for the annual JRCLS leadership conference at Aspen Grove on 29 September 2011. Professor Doxey, Associate Director for the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, invited listeners to consider the decay of religious freedom throughout the world and issued... more

Professor Robert T. Smith, Managing Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, participated in two recent events. As a member of the panel "Religion in Politics, Professor Smith attended the first meeting of the Utah Valley University Interfaith Student Association, on 20 September 2011 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.  Other panel participants were Mark Hausam, Professor of Philosophy at UVU, Daniel Haas, Minister at Provo Community United Church of Christ, and Elaine Ball, Executive Director - Utah Coalition of Reason.

On 22 September 2011, Professor Smith made a presentation to the Salt Lake Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, "Render Unto Caesar That Which is Caesar's: How an Erosion of Religious Freedom Could Jeopardize the Historical Tax Privileges of Churches,"... more

Professor Robert T. Smith, Managing Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, presented the Fourth Lecture of the Religious Freedom Discussion Series sponsored by the ICLRS in cooperation with the Community Service Outreach Committee of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. Professor Smith's address, "Valuing Religion: Historical Tax Privileges of Churches in a Modern Secular Age," was delivered on 15 September 2011 at the Law School on the campus of Brigham Young University and was available via webinar to listeners worldwide.

Professor Smith has served as ICLRS Managing Director since 2006. In this role he oversees the activities of the Center, including supervising the Annual International Law and Religion Symposium and numerous international conferences... more

Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) at Brigham Young University, was installed as President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS) at the Second ICLARS Conference, held 8-10 September 2011 in Santiago, Chile. Professor Durham succeeds Professor Silvio Ferrari of Università degli Studi di Milano. Professor Robert Smith, ICLRS Managing Director, serves... more

J. Reuben Clark Law School Professor Cole Durham presented a paper at the International Academic Conference, "Religion as a Social Institution," held in Moscow on 5-6 September 2011. The conference was organized by the Center for Religious Studies "ReligioPolis" (Moscow), the Department of Sociology and Administration of Social Processes, Academy of Labor and Social Relations (Moscow), the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah), the Department of Religion and Religious Studies, Philosophy Faculty (St. Petersburg... more

For a second summer, a number of foreign scholars traveled to China to participate in an intensive course on comparative and international law and religion. The 2011 Summer Training Program on Religion and the Rule of Law, held in Beijing from 17-31 July, was sponsored by Peking University Law School's Center for Constitutional and Administrative Law, together with the Pu Shi Institute for Social Sciences, a Chinese think tank devoted to issues relating to religion and the rule of law. Brett Scharffs and Cole Durham of Brigham Young University's International Center... more

As the concluding speaker at the symposium "Belonging, Families, and Family Law," held 28 January 2011 at the BYU Law School, Professor Brett G. Scharffs delivered a paper "Echoes from the Past: What We Can Learn about Unity, Belonging, and Respecting Differences from the Flag Salute Cases." The symposium proceedings have been now published as Volume 25, No. 2 of the Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law.  

In summarizing his paper, Professor Scharffs reiterated recent observations of Professor Thomas Berg of the University of St. Thomas, noting the commonality... more

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies was privileged to enjoy the work of ten students who came as Summer Externs for 2011, from the J. Reuben Clark Law School and six other schools in the United States and Germany. This summer's work has included the externs' joining forces with several of the 2011 Student Fellows to provide invaluable help in the preparation of the Center's amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court case Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC. Following the successful... more

We at the Center express our deep gratitude to this year's Student Research Fellows for their diligence and fortitude this summer, in completing their assignments in legal settings worldwide, and in their competent work during the eight weeks' efforts of the Hosanna-Tabor amicus brief, followed by complex and demanding assignments involving this year's revision of the Bassett/ Durham/ Smith treatise, Religious Organizations and the Law.  The important work of the Center could not succeed without these... more

Professor Robert T. Smith, Managing Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, was quoted extensively in an article by Michael DeGroote published in the 27 August 2011 edition of The Deseret News. The article appeared in response to a recent report of the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life entitled "Rising Restrictions on Religion." The report, prepared under the direction of Brian J. Grim, Pew senior researcher and director of cross-national data, traces developments during the period 2006-2009 and notes alarming trends suggesting increasing restrictions on religious freedoms for a great many people worldwide.

While praising the study for the way it helps to make comparisons and track trends, Professor Smith stressed the importances of also looking at things that can't... more

Brett G. Scharffs, Francis R. Kirkham Professor of Law and Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, has published the article "Four Views of the Citadel: The Consequential Distinction between Secularity and Secularism," in the journal Religion and Human Rights 6 (2011) 109-126.  

In this article Professor Scharffs suggests that there is an important, perhaps critical, distinction between secularity and secularism — in particular, that one concept is a fundamental component of liberal pluralism... more

According to a comprehensive study released on 9 August 2011 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, one-third of the world's population experienced an increase in restrictions on religion during the period of the study. The study, Rising Restrictions on Religion, finds that restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose between mid-2006 and mid-2009 in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%).... more

The Center was privileged to host four visitors from Indonesia who were in the United States as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. State Department. Mr. Fajar Riza Ul HAQ, Executive Director, MAARIF Institute for Culture and Humanity; Mr. Al KHONIF, Director, Research Institute of Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Jember; Mr. Aulia KOSASIH, Chairman, Department of Law and Human Rights, National Board of Association of Islamic Studies; and Mr. Singgih NUGROHO, Program Coordinator, Percik Institute, Salatiga, had traveled to the United States to participate in a 21-day program... more

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies co-hosted a public lecture and conference on Law and Religion with the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, Melbourne Law School, held at Melbourne Law School on 15-16 July. The outstanding group of speakers included experts from Australia and 12 other countries, including the United States, Malaysia, China, Italy, Norway, Argentina, Spain and Belgium. On Thursday 13 July 2011, Professor John Witte, one of the world’s... more

[From the website of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, 11 July 2011]

Elsa Jacobsen is one of ten law students and recent graduates who contributed research to a Supreme Court amicus brief for Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Church and School v. EEOC. Jacobsen gained valuable experience in research throughout her education at BYU Law—from her legal research and writing class to a Law and Religion Fellowship... more

On 28 June 2011, a coalition of the Vatican and major Protestant and Evangelical churches announced in Geneva new ethical standards for Christian missionary activities. Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct is the product of five years of consultations among the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, the World Council of Churches, and the World Evangelical Association. "This document is the latest in a series of missionary 'codes of conduct' produced... more

Professor Gary B. Doxey presented on 23 June 2011 the third lecture in the bi-monthly Religious Freedom Discussion Series, sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies in connection with the Community Service Outreach Committee of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. Professor Doxey's address, "Historical Perspectives on the Rise of Religious Freedom," was delivered at the J. Reuben Clark Law School on the campus of Brigham Young University and broadcast as a live Webinar.

Technical difficulties during the presentation prevented a recording of the orginal lecture, but a PowerPoint presentation is available here, and the text of the lecture will be published here soon.

In his address, Professor Doxey gave an overview of the main features of the conventional narrative... more

On June 16-18, 2011, Center Director Professor Cole Durham and Associate Director Professor Brett Scharffs participated in a conference on Religion and the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia in Hanoi, Vietnam. The conference was the third in a series of conferences held in Vietnam under the co-sponsorship of the Institute of Religious Studies of the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), the Vietnam-U.S.A. Society, the Institute for Global Engagement, and BYU Law School’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies.... more

Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr. co-organized and led the "Capacity Building Seminar on Freedom of Religion or Belief" for the State Committee on Religious Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, on behalf of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and in co-operation with the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. Durham, who is a member of the ODIHR Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief, assisted with the writing and preparation of the materials for the seminar, which was held in Istanbul, Turkey, 14-15 June 2011.

Professor Brett Scharffs, Francis R. Kirkham Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School and Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU, participated in an Expert Conference on the Master Level Course on Shari’a and Human Rights: Background and Core Issues in Contemporary Indonesia, held at the University of Muhammadiyah in Malang, Indonesia on June 13-16, 2011. This was the latest in a series of conferences held in Indonesia designed to discuss the relationship between Islamic law and human rights, and to... more

Each spring, three professors from the J. Reuben Clark Law School travel to Budapest, Hungary to teach students from more than 100 countries at Central European University (CEU). BYU Law Professors Cole Durham, Clifton Fleming, and Brett Scharffs are among the distinguished visiting faculty from thirty countries who participate in the Comparative Constitutional Law Program of CEU's Department of Legal Studies. Established in 1991, CEU is a model for international education: a center for regional and global studies where there is intellectual support for building open and democratic societies... more

Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr. presented three papers in Hungary during June 2011, in addition to his term as visiting professor at Central European University in Budapest, where he taught an Advanced Seminar on Freedom of Religion. 

1-3 June:  Presented "Asymmetries in the Proection of Freeomd of Religion or Belief" at the Conference on the Christian-Jewish-Muslim Interfaith Dialogue, sponsored by the State Secretariat for Religious, Minority, and Civil Society Affairs of the Ministry... more

Two of the more than one dozen papers delivered in as many countries by Cole Durham during the spring of 2011 were given during the course of "Multiculturalism and Human Rights – a Symposium in Honor of Tore Lindholm," held 26 May 2011 in Oslo, Norway. The symposium, which was conducted in English because of the participation of Professor Durham and Professor Hurst Hannum of Tufts University, was sponsored by the Human Rights and Diversity Working Group of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) of the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo. Noting the 70th birthday of Professor Lindholm – "one of the... more

Professor Cole Durham, a member of the Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, participated in the ODIHR/OSCE Legislative Guidelines meetings in Warsaw, Poland, on 23-24 May 2011. 

A conference "Freedom of Religion and Interfaith Dialogue: A Global Dimension and Local Impressions," co-sponsored by the Coordinating Council of CIS and Baltic States on Theoretical and Practical Religion Studies, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, the Department of Religious Studies of the G.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Association of Researchers of Religion, the Center for Religious Information and Freedom, the Ukrainian Religious Liberty... more

On 18 May 2011 Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., presented a paper "The Serbian Religion Law in International and Comparative Perspective," at the Symposium on the Occasion of Five Years of the Enactment and Implementation of the Law on Churches and Religious Communities, sponsored by the Ministry of Religion and Diaspora, Faculty of Law of the University of Belgrade and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Belgrade. The following day, Durham spoke at the conference The Position of Churches and Religious Communities in Society at the Theological Faculty, University of Belgrade, delivering the paper "Recent Developments in Religious Freedom Law."

On 17 May 2011 ICLRS personnel assisted in hosting visitors to BYU Campus from Serbia, here as part of the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy (UCCD) program to explore "The Role of Religion and Social Issues in the United States."  Center leaders Bob Smith, Brett Scharffs, Gary Doxey, and David Kirkham joined Law School Professor Fred Gedicks and other scholars from across campus to welcome Mr. Adnan Ahmedi, Head, Council of the Islamic Community, Presevo; Mr. Isak Asiel, Supreme Rabbi, Federation of Jewish Communities in Serbia; Mr. Drasko Denovic, Member, Church... more

Dr. David M. Kirkham presented the second lecture in the bi-monthly Religious Freedom Discussion Series, sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies in connection with the Community Service Outreach Committee of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. Dr. Kirkham's lecture, "Islam and Human Rights: Europe and Beyond," was webcast on 4 May 2011 from the J. Reuben Clark Law School on the campus of Brigham Young University and is available in two formats:  mp3 audio and mp4 video. Download the PowerPoint Presentation here.

Dr. Kirkham is Senior Fellow for Comparative Law and International Policy and Regional Advisor for the European... more

20 April 2011 - Washington, D.C.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that states, in accepting federal funding, do not consent to waive their sovereign immunity to private suits for money damages under federal law. In a majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas in the case Sossamon v. Texas et al., the Court ruled that the principle of sovereign immunity protects a state from a damages lawsuit by a prisoner who contends that... more

Brett G. Scharffs, Francis R. Kirkham Professor of Law and Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, participated in the International Congress on Constitutional Law held in Istanbul, 11-14 May 2011. The primary purpose of the Congress was "to provide academic and civilian contributions to the formation of a civilian constitution" in Turkey. To this end some 50 Turkish scholars and goverment leaders joined with some 40 foreign participants to discuss constitutional law issues from a wide variety of perspectives. Professor Scharffs' paper was entitled "Secularity or Secularism: Two Competing Visions for the Relationship between Religion and the State in the New Turkish Constitution."... more

Professors Cole Durham and Brett Scharffs, Director and Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, along with Marshall Morrise, the Center's Website Development Manager, traveled to India to participate with the Center's honored friend and advisor, Professor Dr. Tahir Mahmood, and other internationally renowned religious freedom scholars in the conference "Religion and Governance in a Secular State," co-sponsored by the Center and the Amity Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and held 9-10 May 2011 at the Amity Campus, Sector – 125 in... more

International Center for Law and Religion Studies Director Cole Durham and Associate Director Brett Scharffs participated in a conference in Kathmandu, Nepal on 5-7 May 2011, on The Emerging New Constitution in Nepal. The conference convened in the shadow of a looming deadline of 28 May 2011 for the Constituent Assembly to agree on a new draft constitution. The conference was held to discuss several of the most important unresolved issues, including federalism, judicial independence and accountability, forms of governance, and human rights, including women's rights and... more

Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr. was among the presenters at the Seventeenth Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences held in Rome from Friday 29 April through Tuesday 3 May 2011. The Session, organized under the direction of Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University Law School and former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, was devoted to the topic Universal Rights in a World of Diversity: The Case of Religious Freedom. "Religious freedom claims the Academy's attention not only because it is central to Catholic thought," notes Professor Glendon, "but because the dilemmas and controversies in that area are illustrative of the current crisis of the entire human rights project."... more

The LDS International Society held its 22^nd Annual Conference at the Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, on 4 April 2011. The theme of the day-long conference was "The Erosion of Religious Liberties: Impact on the International Church."  Delivering the conference keynote address was Michael K. Young, president and chancellor of the University of Utah. Following his address, President Young received the Society's 2011 Distinguished Service Award from William F. Atkin, International Society board member and associate general counsel, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also addressing the conference was Dr. John Graz, Secretary-General of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA). Dr. Graz... more

ICRLS Director Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr. joined other international religious freedom experts, in presenting a paper at the conference "Equality, Freedom of Conscience, and the Common Good," sponsored by Social Trends Institute, London, England, 17-19 March 2011. Durham's paper, presented in collaboration with Dr. Peter Perkoff of Brunel University... more

20 April 2011 - Washington, D.C.

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court in the case now titled Utah Highway Patrol Association v. American Atheists et al. This Establishment Clause case defends the presence of roadside crosses along Utah highways memorializing fallen State Troopers against a challenge by American Atheists and others. ADF will represent the Utah Highway Patrol, while former Texas Solicitor General ... more

13 April 2011 - Salt Lake City

In the article, "Religious clubs face hurdles on campuses," appearing in Salt Lake City's Deseret News on 13 April 2011, journalist Michael De Groote has revisted the issues raised in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, handed down by the United States Supreme Court in June 2010. [Read opinion here.] The Court in this case ruled for the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in its denial of recognition to a Christian student group that required voting members to sign a statement of faith, prohibiting "unrepentant participation in or advocacy of a sexually immoral lifestyle" (and, incidentally, non-Trinitarian beliefs, such as those held by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) In a dissenting opinion, Justice... more

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies is pleased to announce the 2011 Student Research Fellows and locations of their assignments for next summer. The ICLRS Student Research Fellows Program invites students from the J. Reuben Clark Law School to participate in an international externship followed by a guided individual research project. The five-week externships take place at the offices legal counsels in ten foreign countries and in Chicago and Salt Lake City. Students become active participants in the current work of the legal counsel with whom they are affiliated. Returning to Provo for the remainder of the summer, the... more

The proceedings of the conference "Civil Religion in the United States and Europe: Four Comparative Perspectives" have been published as Volume 41, Number 4 (2010) of The George Washington International Law Review. The conference, organized by Professor Frederick Mark Gedicks, Guy Anderson Chair & Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, with the assistance of W. Cole Durham, Jr. and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) at Brigham Young University... more

Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, delivered the first lecture in the Religious Freedom Discussion Series sponsored by the Center with the Community Service Outreach Committee of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (JRCLS). Professor Durham's address, "Current Developments in International Religious Freedom," was delivered on 3 March 2011 and webcast live from the J. Reuben Clark Law School... more

Professors Cole Durham and Gary Doxey, participated in the conference Religion and the Legislative Regime for the New Dominican Republic, co-sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Catholic University of Santo Domingo, and El Consorcio Latinoamericano de Libertad Religioso and held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 24-25 February 2011. Other presenters at the conference included Ana María Celis-Brunet, President of the Consorcio Latinoamericano de Libertad Religiosa and Professor of Canon Law at Pontificia Catholic... more

ICLRS Associate Director Brett Scharffs was one of four featured presenters at a Symposium on Religion and International Law at Santa Clara University School of Law, held on February 18-19, 2011. Professor Scharffs’ paper was entitled, "Equality in Sheep’s Clothing: The Implications of Anti-Discrimination Norms for Religious Autonomy." Three Commentators responded to Scharffs’ paper, Asifa Quraishi (Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School), Johann Van der Vyver (Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the Emory University School of Law, and former professor of law at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa), and Tad Stahnke (Director of Policy and Programs at Human Rights First).

In his paper, Professor Scharffs discussed three recent cases that illustrate the ongoing tension between equality norms and... more

Effective January 2011, Professor Gary B. Doxey, an Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, has been named chair of the Center's Development Committee. Professor Doxey replaces Dean Scott Cameron, BYU Law School Associate Dean of External Relations, who had served as Development Committee Chair since summer 2008. The Center expresses its profound thanks for the invaluable service of Dean Cameron, who has served as a member of the Development Committee since its inception... more

Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Director, Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies, University of Peshawar, Pakistan, visited the International Center for Law and Religion Studies on Tuesday, 22 February 2011. As a professor of Islamic and Seeratt Studies, Dr. Ayaz participated in a 2004 International Visitor Leadership Program on "Religious Diversity in the United States." Upon return to Pakistan, he worked with colleagues to implement an interfaith curriculum at the University of Peshawar, which in turn led to the establishment of a campus-based interfaith center.... more

The 2011 J. Reuben Clark Law Society Annual Conference was held Thursday through Saturday, 17-19 February, at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Speakers and panels addressed the theme "Liberty through the Rule of Law." Speakers included The Honorable Harriet Miers, Partner at Locke Lord and former White House Counsel; The Honorable Judge Michael Mukasey, former U.S. Attorney General; U.S. Ambassador Robert King, Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues; Elder... more

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, delivered an address, "Preserving Religious Freedom," at the Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California, on 4 February 2011. The address was a call upon all who believe that the rights and wrongs of human behavior have been established by a Supreme Being to "unite more effectively to preserve and strengthen the freedom to advocate and practice our religious beliefs, whatever... more

In an event sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Professor Silvio Ferrari spoke at Brigham Young University on Monday, 31 January 2011, on the topic "Religion and the Public/Private Divide in the European Legal Systems." Professor Ferrari is Professor of Canon Law at the University of Milan and Professor of Church-State Relations at the University of Leuven in Belgium. He is director of the Istituto Ecclesiastico at the University of Milan, and is the founder and president of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS). He... more

BYU Law Professor Brett G. Scharffs delivered concluding comments and reflections at a Symposium on Belonging, Families, and Family Law, held at BYU Law School on 28 January 2011. The Symposium brought together leading scholars from around the world to discuss issues relating to belonging, families, responsibilities and boundaries, and children, family recognition and exemptions.

Scharffs’ paper, "Echoes from the Past: What We Can Learn about Unity, Belonging and Respecting Differences from the Flag Salute Cases," addressed the principal conference themes &ndash... more

Four representatives of the International Visitor Leadership Program, Promoting Moderate Voices, a Project for Canada, visited the Center on 28 January 2011. The visitors were in the United States to discuss ways to promote interfaith dialogue and moderate discussion of religious differences; learn how federal, state, and local government agencies counter religious and idealogical extremism and promote... more

ICLRS Director Cole Durham chaired a session at the international Symposium "Religious Diversity and the European Workplace," which convened at the Law Faculty of Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, on 13 January 2011. The event was organized by the University's Institute for Migration Law and the Anthropology of Law under the umbrella of FP7 Religare. Religare, "Religious Diversity and Secular Models in Europe: Innovative Approaches to Law and Policy, " is a 3-year EU 7th Framework Program... more